Chapter Text
You were sitting in a living room the size of your whole apartment sitting on a chair that probably cost more than your mom made in a year, trying not to let the ironically loud silence suffocate you. If your life hadn’t been completely disrupted you would be at home, sitting at your tiny kitchen table doing your homework. Instead, you were sitting in a fucking mansion while some old rich white guy and his lawyers yelled at your mom and your paralegal aunt in another room. A pretty woman with short dark hair burst through the front door looking like she was on the warpath.
“And just who the hell are you?”
You felt yourself shrink under her bloodthirsty gaze. She took a step to approach you but was stopped when a man behind her put his hand on her shoulder. A startled blonde woman stood behind them both. “Claire. Don’t. This is not her fault, don’t take any anger out on her. You know what dad’s like-”
“Yeah, now! But not then, not when mom was still alive! This skank is just lying-”
“ Claire don’t be naive-”
“I’m going to find dad and the lawyers.” With one last murderous glare thrown your way, she stomped off. The man stayed beyond though, and sighed. “Hi. I’m Connor. You must be Y/N?”
“...Yes.”
“I’m sorry that we’re meeting like this, and about Claire... She always was a daddy’s girl. I ignored some of the things he’s said and done. This news has been tough to swallow for her.”
“And what about you?”
“I found out that my dad was not a very... Faithful or honest person when I was eight. I’m surprised we haven’t had to deal with something like this sooner. Still, I am sorry that it’s all happened this way, I have to imagine that it’s been unpleasant and a big change.”
“Yeah. It has.” Tears brimmed your eyes and you did your best to hold them back as you remembered the hoard of reporters and paparazzi following you and your classmates calling you and your mom unsavoury names. A hand holding a tissue entered your vision. You took it and gave Connor a tense smile. “Thanks.”
He sighed again. “Have you eaten?”
“Not since breakfast. My mom had to sign me out of school when the news broke. She was going to take me home but some guys in suits shoved us into an SUV and brought us here. Don’t worry, though, I’m not hungry.”
“Well, I am, and I doubt that you’re not hungry after not eating anything for seven hours. Come on, I’ll raid the kitchen and make us something.”
After a second of hesitation, you followed him down the hall and into the whitest room you’d ever seen. White floors, wall tiles, countertops, cupboards, everything. It was actually giving you a bit of a headache. There was a woman cutting vegetables near a large gilded window. She smiled when she saw the two of you enter. “Connor. It’s good to see you.”
“You too Luisa. How have you been?”
“Good, thank you for the wine by the way. Hector and I loved it but you didn’t have to.”
“It was your thirty-fifth wedding anniversary, that’s special. And important.” She chuckled before shaking her head. “Thank you again, Connor.”
“No problem, really. Now, do you mind if I raid your kitchen a bit? Neither of us has eaten-”
“I don’t mind at all, do as you please. Just don’t touch the steak that’s marinating in the fridge, that’s for dinner tonight.”
“Yes ma’am.”
Connor gestured for you to take a seat on the glaringly white barstool before he went to a large floor-to-ceiling cupboard and started digging around before doing the same to the fridge. He made eye contact with you again when he brought an armful of pasta, cream, butter, a pepper mill, and three different kinds of cheese to the island. “Does mac and cheese sound good to you?”
“Uh, yeah. Sounds great.”
“What’s wrong? You don’t have to worry about eating this stuff, I’d be making it regardless of if you were here. I won’t let you get in trouble for it.”
“I’ve never had mac and cheese that didn’t come out of a box before.”
“Well, you’re in for a real treat then.” He brought out a pot and set it on the stove to boil. “So, Y/N, how old are you? What grade are you in? If you don’t mind me asking, that is.”
“Uh, everything in that article was accurate, actually. I’m thirteen and in the eighth grade. School’s pretty good, I like most subjects and it’s normally not a place I hate to go, but today...”
“Yeah. Yeah, I get that. I just want to make sure you know that you didn’t do anything wrong. You’re not responsible for your own creation. And I don’t think your mom’s responsible for everything, either. My- our dad, he was the one who was married with two kids at home. It was more his responsibility to remain faithful in his marriage than anyone else. Scratch that, he was the only person responsible. And that article... What they did was wrong- illegal actually. Testing your DNA without your mom’s consent because you’re a minor was very, very messed up and illegal. So was stalking you and taking pictures. I’m sorry that you’re having to go through all of this.”
You watched him drain the pasta into the strainer in the sink before bringing the pot back to the stove and adding in some butter. Truthfully, you didn’t know how to respond. You had walked into science to girls huddled around a magazine with a picture of you walking home from school on the cover. You’d managed to get a hold of one when your best friend showed up at school with one. “Did you know about this?”
“Nno- no. I didn’t.” The whispers had hovered around you all first and half of second period, when your mom came to sign you out.
“I didn’t know who he was.” Connor stopped adding grated cheese to the pot for a moment. “You didn’t?”
“No. I used to ask about my dad, but my mom didn’t like to talk about him. When I was six she told me that he was a mean person and that I was better without him in my life.”
“Your mom was right. Mac and cheese is done. Here.” He passed you a bowl and fork. “Dig in.” He sat at the barstool next to you with his own bowl. You took a bite and your eyes nearly popped out of your head. Connor laughed. “I take it you like it, then?”
“It’s so creamy, it tastes so good ... Don’t think I could give up the boxed stuff, though.”
“Yeah, the boxed kind really is underrated.”
“So, Connor, how old are you? What do you do?”
“Well, I’m thirty-three years old, and I’m a surgeon at Gaffney medical centre.”
“Really? That’s so cool. I want to be a doctor when I get older, don’t think I’d want to be a surgeon though.”
“Too much blood for you?”
“Maybe. So, it’s you, Claire, that blonde lady, and me? What’s her name?”
“Oh! Uh, that’s Lauren, and she’s not our sister. She’s my lawyer. I have her firm on retainer and brought her here to represent your mom. There should be more lawyers to help in the future, but a bunch of them were in court today.”
“You brought in a lawyer for my mom? Why?”
“I figured she wasn’t going to have one, or at least not one as good as mine, and I knew that my dad and his legal team were going to bulldoze your mom if she didn’t have help.”
“My aunt is with her, she’s a paralegal.”
“That’s good, but paralegals can’t practice law, only help lawyers practice law. This will hopefully give you and your mom a better chance against whatever our dad wants to throw at you.” Connor brought your empty dishes to the sink and sighed. He stood there for a moment, gripping the metal edge of it before turning to face you. “When your mom said that our dad is a mean person? She was sugarcoating it. And he’s not just mean. Evil. He’s dangerous. You’ll both need to be very careful around him.”
Connor had this dark look in his eyes, like there was a specific memory that was pushing him to warn you. You were both confused and curious and opened your mouth to ask him what exactly he meant by that, when a real life butler (!!!) burst through the kicthen door. “Luisa! Have you seen-” And then he saw you Connor, relief instantly flooded his body. “Good, she’s with you Connor. Everyone is finished for today and Mr. Rhodes and the Ms. Y/L/N’s were wondering where she went, everyone was worried.”
Connor’s head reared back in shock. “My dad was worried about her?”
The butler coughed lowly, acutely aware that you were in the room, reminding Connor with a quick nod of his head. “Well, Ms. Y/L/N and her sister were worried about her, Mr. Rhodes...”
“Was worried I’d break or steal something.” Everyone winced at your blunt reply but the butler nodded apologetically. “Is everyone in the foyer? I’ll bring her back, I have a few things I need to discuss with my father.”
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Before you left, Connor gave a piece of paper with his contact information to your mom and called a car for the three of you. You hadn’t been sure how to say goodbye to him. A hug was too much, you’d only just met, a fistbump would’ve been weird to do in front of an army of lawyers and beady eyed man who was apparently your father, and doing nothing just felt rude... So you settled for a handshake with a smile and a “it was nice to meet you” thrown in.
The ride back to your tiny apartment was very awkward. When Connor had said he’d call a car for you, your mom, and your aunt, you thought he’d meant an uber or something. Instead, one of those facy little black cars that New York City politicians use in movies pulled up, it had two stes of seats in the back. One was facing forward like normal and the other was facing backwards. For a moment you forgot everything that had happened and called dibs on the backwards facing seat.
Your mom had started to talk about everything once the door to the car was shut but your aunt hissed at her. “Be quiet! He works for them, could tell them what we say. We’ll talk when we get back to your apartment.”
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Your aunt was the sort of person who would turn off her hair straightener before going out, but needed to check that she’d actually turned it off at least twenty times. But she’d been marching back to your front door and re-checking the locks at least eighty times in the last forty minutes. Your mom, who had just put the tray of chicken fingers and fries into the oven, was clearly on precipice of losing her patience. “Um, mom? Aunt Tonya? Can we... I don’t know, talk about it now?”
Your aunt snapped her head to you before nodding sharply. “Yes. Good idea. Where did Connor Rhodes take you? What did he tell you? What did you do?”
Your mom, much gentler than your aunt, put a hadn on your shoulder and asked, “did he hurt you? Or touch you in any way? Or-”
“What? No! I-” You let out a tense breath and frustrated hmmph. “Connor talked to me for a bit before taking me to the kitchen, because neither of us had eaten-”
“How did he know you hadn’t eaten?”
“Because he asked ! And if you actually want me to answer your questions, so that I can ask some of my own, don’t interrupt!”
“Y/N-”
“Mom. Stop. My life was blown to pieces today and I had no way to be prepared for it. I am allowed to be angry, and I am allowed to be angry at you . So let me talk, with no interruptions.” You had never spoken to your mom like that, ever. There’s no way she would’ve tolerated that. But today... Today she just looked ashamed, so she nodded and sat on the couch. “I was there when Connor, his sister Claire, and Connor’s lawyer came in. Claire was mad. She yelled at me but Connor stopped her and she went to find the room you guys were in, along with the lawyer because Connor told me he brought her in to represent us? He said he was worried that... That our dad would ‘bulldoze’ us.” You stopped talking for a minute. Now that the three letter word had a name and a face, and a reputation, it felt different to say it.
“Y/N?”
“Right. Sorry. Uh, he took me into the kitchen and made mac and cheese, which was really fancy by the way-”
Your aunt snorted and your mom gave her a look. You acted like you didn’t hear or see either action.
“-and it tasted so good! I still love the boxed stuff, though. Anyway, he asked me how old I was, what grade I was in. And I asked the same stuff, except what he did for work instead of school, and he said that he’s thirty three and a surgeon. Honestly, though, he mostly just talked about how he doesn’t blame either of us,he said his-our dad was the one actually married and he was the only one responsible making sure he didn’t cheat. He also said he was sorry about the article, that it was wrong and illegal for them to test my DNA and take pictures without consent. I told him that you’d told me that my dad is mean, you were sugarcoating it. That he’s evil and dangerous and we all need to be really careful.”
Your aunt put her face in her hands and your mom winced.
“I know I made a mistake-”
“Mistake?! You dated a rich, powerful, connected, married man! For eight months! You consciously made several hundred mistakes with no remorse until he wasn’t buying you jewellery anymore.”
“Tonya! Please, stop!”
“No, mom. I need to know. I’m his daughter, apparently. My face is all over magazines, gossip blogs, and the news. I’m being called a slut at school. All of my friends, classmates, and bullies know. Anyone googles my name will know, including future bosses. I deserve to know .”
“Fine. Fine, you’re right. But I’m going to tell you how it happened.” She took a breath, steadying herself. And at this moment, she doesn’t look like the tough as nails, strict mom who was hellbent on making sure you never got into any trouble. She looks small. Scared.
“I... I was nineteen. Young and dumb. I had just moved into my first apartment and thought of myself as a real, fully-fledged adult who knew everything and didn’t need any help. But then that cute job I got as a barista got less cute, and didn’t pay the bills, and I was struggling at school... I didn’t ask for help. I probably should have, but I was embarrassed. I’m the big sister, the responsible one. I was supposed to be able to solve my own problems. I was not in the greatest place, so my friends decided we needed to go dancing.
Yelena’s brother had a friend who was a bouncer at a really high end club and was able to get us in. It was fun, we danced, we drank-”
She looked at you with a deer-in-headlights expression, remembering that she was talking to her thirteen year old daughter. You roled your eyes. “I know what happens in clubs mom, I watch CSI.”
Your mom looked shocked for a second before turning and narrowing her eyes at her sister, who sheepishly shrugged her shoulders. “Don’t worry, I introduced her to the Vegas one.”
“That is not an appropriate show for-”
“Mom! Focus.”
“Right. But we’re talking about this later. So, I was dancing with my friends, we were having fun, and your father approached me. We, uh, well we were two consenting adults so we did naked adult stuff-”
“Sex.”
“Y/N!”
“What?! You’re the one who gave me ‘the talk’ plus we had to learn about it in health years ago.”
“I- yes, we had... Sex. He was staying at this really nice penthouse apartment downtown. He got my number, after, and asked if I’d like to meet up again. We ended up dating, going to dinner, he bought me gifts, and I moved in with him. I was spending more time there than at my own apartment, so I figured, why not just live there. He... He told me that he loved me. That he would leave his wife for me. And I believed him. Young, and, dumb.
After eight months, he told me to get out. Well actually, that’s not true. He had his secretary tell me to get out and leave everything he’d bought me. His secretary and a security guard literally stood over me watching me pack. It was terrifying and humiliating. My friends had already found a new roommate, I couldn’t afford a place on my own because I’d quit my job. They let me stay on the couch a few days while I sent out resumes before telling me I needed to leave. Your Granna and Grandad were so upset with me. Which was understandable, but it still hurt.
I ended up flunking that semester and lost my scholarship. I couldn’t afford school without it, so I ended up finding a couple of part time jobs, and then I found out I was pregnant with you. I contacted his office, let them know I was pregnant. A day later I was pressured to take forty grand and sign an NDA in return, agreeing not to go to the press, tell his wife and family, or seek out child support.
I probably shouldn’t have signed it. But I was sitting in a fancy glass office in a Dunkin Donuts uniform sitting across from the man I loved, and who I thought loved me, and he just looked at me like I was a cockroach. So I signed it. Hoping that would be the last time I’d ever have to see him.
You know the rest from this point on. I took a course to become a 911 dispatcher and we lived with your grandparents until you were three and I could afford a place with another single mom friend before finally moving here two years ago. I tried dating, but couldn’t find anyone worthwhile. And now... Now you know everything.”
You leaned back in your chair. Soaking it all in. For the first time since all of this started, you were numb. Not angry, or sad, or scared or stressed. Just... Nothing. You felt nothing. And you didn’t know what that meant. Your mom was reaching out to you but stopped herself when the oven dinged. “Food’s ready.” You stood up and grabbed the oven mitts, looking for a reason to leave the entire day behind you.